Stage Review - Is This a Room (Harlequin Productions)

Stage Review - Is This a Room
Presented By: Harlequin Productions - Olympia, WA
Show Run: March 07 - March 23, 2025
Date Reviewed: Thursday, March 13, 2025
Run Time: 75 Minutes (no intermission)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman

Before Thursday night’s performance of Is This a Room, the show currently running on stage at the State Theatre in Olympia, Harlequin Productions’ Producing Artistic Director Aaron Lamb, who is also the director of the production, as part of his pre-show speech made a point to thank the organization’s season subscribers. He didn’t thank them for their financial investment, though that surely is appreciated by any theatre that needs up front money to secure shows and otherwise exist in a positive cash position to help fund operations, but rather he thanked them for their commitment to filling seats, a commitment that allows a group like Harlequin to produce shows that aren’t necessarily familiar to audiences or, like Is This a Room, regional premieres that carry a thought-provoking message. Is This a Room isn’t just a show that many probably haven’t heard of, it’s unique among all of the shows currently on stage in the region in the way that it’s written, or not written. It’s not a play constructed in the traditional sense, it’s the actual performance of an FBI transcript from the arrest and interrogation of Reality Lee Winner, Air Force Veteran and government contractor who is accused of mishandling confidential documents. It’s an intriguing, and true, story, one that feels timely in our current and divisive political and social climate. Throughout the interrogation, not only do the agents work to determine whether or not Reality did what she was accused of, but what, if any, motivation she had in perpetrating it. The play was originally conceived by Tina Satter, and while it doesn’t seem like the acting out of an FBI transcript could be even interesting, especially when many of the details of it are redacted, this one is truly unique in that it is not just interesting, quite frankly it is thrilling, and something that grabs the audience and keeps them on the edge of their collective seats for the entirety of the play’s 75 minutes. At times in the play, the audience will feel like defending Reality, at other times, they’ll want her to be punished as a traitor. But all the while, they’ll be presented with four humans on stage, three FBI agents and one accused, telling a story of a moment of time, where they don’t have to be concerned with what happened before or after, though they’ll most likely want to do some research after the fact, a story that presents the extremes we’re willing to go to when our frustration level has reached it’s maximum.

The production is simple and stark, Aaron’s vision putting the weight of the delivery on the actors, Olivia Finkelstein as Reality Lee Winner, Matt Shimkus as Special Agent Justin C. Garrick, Scott C. Brown as Special Agent R. Wallace Taylor, and Ann Flannigan as the “unknown male”, the other voice on the transcript, an FBI agent supporting the other two special agents. The set, designed by Jeannie Beirne is a polygon, wider at one end than the other, which represents the exterior of Reality’s home, where the agents initially meet her, as well as the room off the kitchen where they agree to hold the interrogation. Above the stage, outlined in the same shape as the stage, is a continuous line of fluorescent lights, the “ceiling” angled in such a way to make it appear as though it’s opening up to let the audience in on the proceedings. The most impressive part of the design, the piece that’s not necessarily simple, is how they handle the redacted pieces of the transcript. It’s a wonderful confluence of light (Savannah Van Leuvan) and sound (Keith Jewell) that is nicely done. Without going into any more detail about what it is, I will say it’s a good thing that this play isn’t boring, if it was this effect would be enough to wake every audience member from dozing. The lighting and sound also provide some nice support to the story, the former adding mood through subtle changes, and the latter providing the din of ambient sounds. Rounding out the creative team is costume designer Melanie Ransom, and there’s nothing flashy here either, just real looking clothing, things that it would make sense that each of the characters would wear, including the “unknown male” and their FBI tactical gear.

At the end of the day, though, it’s the actors that make this work, and how Aaron has directed them. Their movement across the blank canvas of the stage helps make the action believable, and for a piece that has no stage direction because it’s just the words from a transcript, it’s up to the director to fill in those blanks, just like it’s up to the actors to fill in things like facial expressions, mannerisms, reactions, and other physical aspects of communication, things that aren’t in the script, frankly because there is no traditional script. There’s a lot of freedom beyond the words on the page, at least the ones that aren’t redacted, and even then there’s freedom in how the redactions are presented by the actors. Clearly, a lot of thought was put into this by Aaron, his team, and the cast, as the result is a play that feels real, and the conversations, including both the verbal and non-verbal components, don’t seem out of the ordinary at all. Each individual performance is excellent, and together, the small group’s timing, their reacting, talking over each other, pauses between questions and responses, these all feel natural, and that’s so important to make this work. Finally, the play is just so well cast. Olivia as Reality is superb. The way she carries herself as the ex-Air Force accused is exactly what I’d expect, she’s at times nervous and bashful and at others cocky and confident. She tries to break the tension with humor, belying that nervousness, and she’s perfected that breathless nervous talking that we all get when we feel some sense of anxiety and can’t stop talking even to take a breath, like we’re about to pass out. There are so many emotions that her character has to feel during a situation like this, and Olivia navigates through all of them perfectly. Most of those emotions are caused by the way she’s treated by agents Garrick and Taylor. It’s fascinating to watch their strategy, Matt’s Special Agent Garrick making small talk with Reality to try and soften her up and at the same time get certain pieces of information from her, while Scott’s Special Agent Taylor comes across as more direct, asking specific and harder questions, taking advantage of the work Garrick has done in softening up Reality, but then tempering his hard questions with a friendly close. There’s also the physical aspect to their characterizations, Matt’s Garrick is always a distance away, while Scott’s Taylor tends to stand closer, taking a more intimidating posture with the accused, and his accessories, including sunglasses and toothpick, don’t hurt that either. To watch this play is to watch three actors who really understand the process of building a character. The fourth member of the team, “unknown male” is also played very well by Ann Flannigan. Ann’s role here is to fill in as the other FBI agents on site, and I like the manner in which she plays this, with strength and confidence.

Is This a Room is unlike any play you’re going to see this season in the area. A presentation of the FBI transcript of the arrest and interrogation of Reality Lee Winner, accused of mishandling confidential documents in her role as a government contractor, it’s surprising not just in how interesting it is, but it’s even more surprising in how thrilling and exciting it is. This comes down to Aaron Lamb, the director of the Harlequin Productions version of Is This a Room, and the cast and creative team that he has put together, taking the words from the transcript and bringing them to life on the stage and bringing a humanity to a story that seems eerily timely and relatable in a time of political and social division in our country. I didn’t know what to expect when I sat down for Is This a Room, but I came away from it appreciating the skilled display of craftwork that Aaron and this group has put together and presented.

Is This a Room, produced by Harlequin Productions, runs on stage in Olympia through March 23. For more information, including ticket availability and sales, visit https://harlequinproductions.org/.

Photo credit: Shanna Paxton Photography